According to Bloomberg News, a political deal is underway between President Joe Biden and European Union that is expected to pave the way for importing additional liquefied natural gas from the United States to aid the bloc so that Russian fuel imports can be replaced, as per a senior EU official.
More on the US-EU gas deals
Biden joined at a summit the EU leaders in a bid to highlight a common resolution against the Russian invasion of Ukraine is expected to announce the agreement along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Friday morning, as per an official. The LNG Russian imports, the largest energy supplier in the EU, stood at approximately 14 billion to 18 billion cubic meters yearly in the past years.
In a joint statement, President Biden and von der Leyen stated that they are further taking concrete steps in their energy cooperation deal to ensure the security of supply. There is less dependence on fossil fuels in Russia.
Bloomberg News reports that this transatlantic agreement is ahead of a meeting that has been planned to be held in Berlin next week between the German power plant fuel buyers and gas exporters of America. The US Embassy in Germany is coordinating the meeting. It is expected that suppliers of liquefied natural gas are anticipated to occur post-March 29th-30th Energy Transition Dialogue conference, as per individuals aware of the matter.
The EU-US agreement will offer a political platform for fostering commercial agreements required for the shipments to start. The 27-nation bloc is looking forward to replacing approximately two-thirds of the total import of gas from Russia, worth 155 billion cubic meters last year after an energy strategy was worked out following President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
The newly worked out European energy strategy that the commission outlined at the beginning of this month aims to replace 101.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in the current year (2022) by tapping into the potentialities of alternative sources of supply, thereby boosting energy security and developing renewables. It aims at seeking 50 billion cubic meters from new suppliers in LNG.
Bloomberg News reports that there has been an exponential rise in the import of fuels amidst the energy crisis in Europe, which had already begun a few months even before the war started. In 2021, transatlantic LNG deliveries were found to be at 22 billion cubic meters, and as of January 2022, it was found to be at 4.4 billion cubic meters.
